CHINA-NATIONAL DAY RECEPTION Chinese leaders attend National Day reception in shadow of Hong Kong unrest

Record ID: 859296

  • Title: CHINA-NATIONAL DAY RECEPTION Chinese leaders attend National Day reception in shadow of Hong Kong unrest
  • Date: 30th September 2014
  • Summary: ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** XI AND FORMER PRESIDENTS OF CHINA, HU JINTAO AND JIANG ZEMIN, AND OTHER HIGH-RANKING OFFICIALS WALKING IN FOR RECEPTION XI STANDING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS JIANG STANDING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS OFFICIALS SITTING DOWN FOR DINNER
  • Embargoed: 15th October 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVASF2YCMORPM9BUM7VFFCY6KJ2
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  • Story Text: Top Chinese leaders attended a ceremony marking the 64th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Tuesday (September 30), in the shadow of mass protests in Hong Kong, one of the biggest political challenges for Beijing since it violently crushed pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
    China's leadership elite, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Monument to the People's Heroes on Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
    The ceremony is usually held on October 1, which is National Day itself and is the start of a seven-day holiday.
    Later in the evening, China's former and current leaders gathered for a reception.
    Among them was former president Jiang Zemin, whose presence put paid to rumours circulating in recent weeks that he had died.
    Addressing the crowd, President Xi said the communist party needed to be resolute in its fight against corruption.
    "All problems that affect the party's unity, creativity and cohesiveness must be addressed. All illnesses that harm the party's advanced nature and purity must be cured completely and all tumours growing on the healthy organism of the party removed so that the party will always stay connected with the people and share a common destiny with them," he said.
    Xi also mentioned Hong Kong in his speech, though his remarks did not stray from the general comments the party usually makes on the territory, and made no mention of the current protests.
    "The central government will unwaveringly implement the guidelines of one country two systems and the basic law, and steadfastly safeguard the long-term stability of Hong Kong and Macau. We firmly believe that the compatriots in Hong Kong and Macau will create an even better future in the big family of the motherland," he said.
    China rules Hong Kong under a "one country, two systems" formula that accords the former British colony a degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, with universal suffrage set as an eventual goal.
    But behind Beijing's celebrations on Tuesday was the weight of Hong Kong's unrest where tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters extended a blockade of Hong Kong's streets, stockpiling supplies and erecting makeshift barricades ahead of what some feared may be a push by police to clear the roads before Chinese National Day.
    Riot police shot pepper spray and tear gas at protesters at the weekend, but by Tuesday evening they had almost completely withdrawn from the downtown Admiralty district except for an area around the government headquarters.
    Protests are widely expected to escalate on Wednesday (October 1) to coincide with the National Day celebrations.
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